Garment.



A. MALSIN.

GARMENT.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 2, 1911.

Patented Dec. 10, 1912.

jraven for Zdif iaesses COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO .\VASHINGTON. D. c.

ALBERT MALSIN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

GARMENT.

Application filed May 2, 1911.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT MALsIN, a citizen of the United States,residing at- New York city, in the county of New York and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Garments, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had therein tothe accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to various kinds of wearing apparel adapted to beadjustable to persons of different sizes, the object of the inventionprimarily being to so arrange the waist port-ion of a garment that itwill accommodate itself readily and quickly to persons of difierentsizes without altering the sewing or stitching or requiring cutting inthe garment when the change is made.

My present improvements, therefore, may

be said to consist essentially in elastic attachments or flexible meansconnected with the waist band or the waist portion of a garmentconstructed with box plait-ing so that the waist portion of said garmentmay expand in order to make it different sizes at diflerent times, theexpansion taking place without disturbing the plaiting.

The invention also consists essentially in the construction, arrangementand combination of the various parts, substantially as will behereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating my invent-ion, Figure 1 isaside eleval-. tion of a portion of a dress or other garment made inaccordance with the plan of my present improved elastic garment. Fig. 2is a reverse perspective view showing the manner in which the waist bandis secured to the dress. Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view. Fig. 4 is apartial top edge View showing the plaiting and also the arrangement ofthe elastic band therewith.

Similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughoutthe different figures of the drawing.

1 denotes the upper portion of an ordinary dress skirt which is made ofbox plaits 2 and 3; 2 denoting the outer plaits and 3 the inner plaits,said inner plaits covering the spaces 4 between the outer plaits 2. Ofcourse it is understood thatthese plaits 2 and 3 are all formed from asingle piece of material which is suitably folded along certain lines toproduce the outer plaits 2 and the inner plaits 3, and that these innerplaits 3 have substantially Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 10, 1912.

Serial No. 624,567.

the same size as the outer plaits 2. The spaces 4 between the outerplaits 2 may vary in width according to the way in which the plaits areformed, and, obviously, these plaits may be of any size and width.

To the upper edge of the skirt 1 is fastened my improved elastic waistband in the way that I shall now describe. It consists of a strip ofmaterial 5 which is gathered or puckered as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2.Obviously it may be any desired width and length. Its opposite edges areturned over and sewed down upon the strip 5 as shown at 6 and 7, so asto provide parallel, longitudinal pockets or passages to contain theelastic strips 8 of which there are two, one at each edge. These elasticstrips 8 are firmly secured within the pockets of the strip 5 when intheir non-stretched condition, so that in this way it results that theband 5 is a gathered or puckered band when the elastic strips are intheir normal unstretched condition. ()bviously, if they are stretchedthe result will be to straighten out the gathers or puckers in the strip5 to a greater or less extent. It is to be further noted that I obtainthe best results by not stitching through the material of theelasticstrips 8, but merely sewing at 6 and 7 closely by the side of theelastic strips 8, so that they may be held firmly within the looppockets which are formed in the material 5. It is also to be noted thatthe elastic strips 8 and the gathered strip 5 may not pass entirelyaround the whole length of the waist, but in certain cases may onlypartially surround it, or this construction may be employed in sectionsone at each side, or a section at the back, the idea being to introduceinto the waist band a flexible or yielding section or sections whichwill enable its size to be enlarged so that the garment mayautomatically adjust itself for persons of different sizes. I

In order to secure the elastic waist band 5 to the skirt 1 and permitthe proper results in the way of adjustability to be secured I fold overthe upper ends of the rear plaits 3 in the manner shown in Fig. 2. Inorder to permit this fold it is necessary to slit or cut the rear plaits.3 at 9, and then the upper ends of the rear plaits 3 will easily foldback. When this has been done the waist band 5 can be stitched to theupper end of the skirt 1 by passing a row of stitches along a straightline near the upper ends of the front plaits 2, as shown in Fig. 2, itbeing noted that this row of stitches 10, while it passes through thefront plaits 2, does not pass through the rear plaits 3, the latterhaving been turned back to avoid being thus stitched. Hence the waistband is stitched to the front plaits 2 but not to the rear plaits 3.Therefore, when the waist band 5 is stretched the puckered or gatheredportions of the strip 5 which lie between the edges of the plaits 2 willstretch out to a greater or less extent, but of course cannot stretchbeyond the maximum point where the material of the band 5 lies flat andstraight in an unpuckered state. In view of the fact that the band 5 isstitched at 10 to the front plaits 2, it is obvious that the smoothingout of the puckers in the strip 5 directly opposite to the plaits 2 willnot take place to any extent. Thus the stretching of the material of theband 5, or rather the smoothing out of such material, due to thestretching of the elastic bands 8 will take place opposite to theopenings t between the outer plaits 2, which openings t will becorrespondingly enlarged and increased in proportion to the amount ofthe stretching of the waist band 5. This opening of the spaces betweenthe front plaits 2 may take place without noticeably affecting theappearance of the garment l inasmuch. as the spaces 4 are covered by therear "plaits 8. In assembling the parts of my invention it will be notedthat after the waist band 5 has been stitched at 10 to the front plaits2 the rear plaits 3 may have their upper ends turned back over thestitching 10 into their former position and held loosely by being caughtor lightly stitched or held in some way that will keep them in positionand which will not affect the separation of the front plaits 2 byenlarging the openings 4 whenever the rubber bands 8 are stretched, andthe puck ering of certain parts of the band 5 relieved in the way I havejust explained.

The waist band 5 is made of neat material, and is attractively shirredso that it presents a good effect, and the elastic bands 8 are concealedfrom View within their pockets so that when this waist band is appliedto the upper edge of a skirt the whole combination is tasty, and it isunnecessary to provide any means for concealing the waist band 5 orcovering it so that its construction will not be apparent.

In order to show the relative position of the waist band 5 and the skirt1 to the waist of a dress I have indicated the latter at 11. It will benoted that the loose upper ends of the inner plaits 3 are covered by thelower edge of the waist 11 and thus kept in place even if they are notsecurely held by pins or light stitching.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a garment which is box plaited, the front plaitsbeing separated from each other, and the rear plaits being likewiseseparated and turned back from their upper ends, a waist band consistingof a shirred strip provided with,

pockets and elastic bands in said pockets, said waist band beingstitched to the front plaits of the garment, and being susceptible ofbeing stretched by stretching the elastic bands so that the gatheredportions of the waist band between the stitched plaits may spread orexpand to allow the waist band to adjust itself to persons of differentsizes.

2. In a garment, the combination with a box plaited skirt, of a waistband which is puckered or plaited and provided with pockets, rubberbands in said pockets, said waist band being stitched to the alternateplaits of the box plaited garment, the stitching being so arranged as topermit a stretching of the waist band, and a smoothing out of thegathers or plaits therein between the stitched plaits of the garment,all substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT MALSIN.

Witnesses:

JEANNETTE STORK, L. S. PERRINE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

